Electron energy relaxation in silicon quantum dots by acoustic and optical phonon scattering

✍ Scribed by Manfred Dür; Stephen M Goodnick

• Book ID: 104429614
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 110 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1386-9477
• DOI: 10.1016/s1386-9477(99)00316-1

✦ Synopsis

In the present work, we theoretically investigate the energy relaxation of electrons due to acoustic and optical phonon scattering in quantum-dot systems embedded in a Si metal-oxide-semiconductor structure with (1 0 0) surface orientation. The conÿnement potential normal to the Si=SiO 2 interface is modeled by an inÿnite triangular quantum well. For the spatial conÿnement in the lateral directions due to depletion gates we assume a parabolic potential. The calculated transition rates for electron scattering between discrete energy levels in the dot are included in a simple transport model using Monte Carlo techniques to simulate the relaxation of electrons from higher levels back to the ground level. We ÿnd that the electron decay shows a non-exponential behavior. The simulated relaxation time strongly depends on the conÿnement in the lateral directions and may vary by several orders of magnitude.